Tonight, Tuesday, May 5, the Ravenna Bryant Community Association will hold their spring community meeting. The meeting is being held at the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Avenue NE) from 7-9 PM.

These expanded-from-their-usual-board-meeting events tend to feature more widely-relevant speakers and a round of board member elections, and that’s just what’s on the agenda for tonight (from the RBCA website):

Tonight, Wednesday, April 29, the 43rd and 46th District Democrats are hosting a forum for the current slate of Seattle City Council District 4 candidates: Jean Godden, Rob Johnson, Michael Maddux, and Tony Provine.

The forum is being held at Roosevelt High School (1410 NE 66th Street).

From the Facebook event page:

You will have an opportunity to mingle with all of the candidates running for office between 6:30pm and 7:00pm; the main program begins at 7:00pm. Come to hear more from the candidates, their positions on important issues to our legislative districts/District 4, and get to know what they stand for.

The moderator for the event is Sarah Anne Lloyd, one-third of the Seattlish trio of “mouthy broads” who have been covering Seattle politics, news, and events since 2013.

We will be there, typing as quickly and accurately as we can, and you can follow along our live coverage below.

Annual Eckstein Band Rummage Sale, in the lunchroom and parking lot of the school at 3003 NE 75th St. Baked goods and music from the school’s jazz combos will also be on-hand. Money raised is used to offset some of the cost of off-camput music performances, repair damaged instruments, and provide scholarships to children who need assistance. 9 AM-3 PM. FREE.

Add to your collections of gardening books or botanical illustrations.

10th Annual Garden Lovers’ Book Sale at the Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 NE 41st St. The used book sale benefits the Elizabeth C. Miller Library’s purchase of new books and magazine subscriptions. 9 AM-3PM. FREE.

The forecast calls for rain this weekend with temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s. The sun might peek through Sunday afternoon.

FRIDAY, March 27

Play board and card games with coffee and treats.

Games will be available or bring your own to Game Night with GeekGirlCon at Wayward Coffee House, 6417 Roosevelt Way NE. Second and Fourth Friday, 7-11 PM. No cover.

SATURDAY, March 28

View and shop the work of talented northwest artists and craftspeople.

Best of the Northwest 2015 Spring Show, Magnuson Park, Hangar 30. More than 100 local artists, local food vendors, live music, and free arts table for the kids. Parking is free. Saturday, 10 AM-6 PM. Tickets are $6 at the door or $5 in advance online. Children 12 and under are free.

Science on Tap at Third Place Pub, 6504 20th Ave NE. “Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance: The Myths, The Reality and Hope for a Treatment,” with Ingrid Swanson Putlz, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington. 7 PM. FREE.

The University of Washington and Capitol Hill Light Rail Stations are now just one year a way from opening to trains and passengers. How is transit going to get you to those stations?

Ahead of the University Link light rail extension opening in the spring of next year, King County Metro is proposing a slew of changes to Northeast Seattle Metro routes to better integrate service with the next link in the light rail chain: the University Link.

We will be at the open house, and plan to provide live coverage below this post.

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The question for Northeast Seattle transit users regarding proposed route changes appears to be (generalizing here): Are we willing to trade in under-performing routes and stops for increased frequency?

We asked around, and this Metro stop sign, with the daisy logo in the lower left corner, dates to at least the mid-1990s. (Stop #38000, west-bound on NE 65 Street and Ravenna Ave NE).

For example: Could you imagine life without the good ol’ 71 Express? It’s tough, especially for residents in Wedgwood and View Ridge where service would be reduced. But what if it were replaced by a heavily revamped Route 16 that arrived every 15 minutes (instead of the 71’s 30 minutes) and created an enhanced east-west transit corridor from Green Lake all the way to Sand Point Way? Are residents willing to walk a little further for changes like these?

More on the map I mentioned above: For a visual, flipbook-style look at present service and proposed changes, we recommend checking out the map found in this Seattle Transit Blog post. Hover your cursor over the map image found there, then click and hold the vertical white line. Move the line left and right to see the changes.

We’ll likely see some rain on Saturday with temperatures in the mid-50s but Sunday has some potential for sun and slightly warmer temperatures.

FRIDAY, March 20

Watch and discuss a social justice documentary film.

Meaningful Movies at Keystone Church, 5019 Keystone Place N in Wallingford. Showing Uranium Drive In in which a rural community in Colorado debates a proposed uranium mill. Every Friday, 7 PM. By Donation.

SATURDAY, March 21

Shop gently-used kids’ gear.

Phinney Neighborhood Center Preschool Co-op’s Kids Sale in the Community Hall of the brick building at 6532 Phinney Ave N. Items include clothing, toys, books, strollers, furniture, gear, and maternity wear. Many items discounted 50% starting at noon. Get a peek at some goodies up for sale here. 9 AM-1 PM. FREE.

Tommy and Elise Ortega are in the midst of turning what used to be an old motorcycle shop into a neighborhood craft brewery. A patio will grace the front of the establishment, while the indoor seating will include a view of the brew equipment currently being installed on a sunken platform in the floor. Brother-in-law Bud will be running the front of the house.

Interior of the Ol Faithful Brewing space, currently under construction (photo by Old Faithful Brewing Co, used with permission).

More about the Ortegas’ vision for Ol Faithful (via email):

We plan on having the locals decide what they want on some taps, perhaps by having a large chalk board, or something of that nature. We also plan on having some locals help with some brews that were elected by the community. We plan to engage the neighborhood, not only by providing craft beers, but being part of the ongoing development of it. Volunteering, sponsoring, and being actively visual to the community.

The name, Ol Faithful, comes from the couple’s name for their home — a Craftsman in Fremont built in 1907:

We think our house has been faithful to all it’s prior owners (its a very old house, I can’t believe its still standing), so we named the house [Ol Faithful]. Seeing how we always brewed there, it was easy to just transition the name to the brewery. (now we just need a new name for our house)

The city attorney’s office is holding a press conference on Friday, March 13, on the northwest corner of NE 65th Street and 14th Avenue NE to provide details on how “the City is moving forward decisively in dealing with the $3 million-plus legal judgment owed by the Sisleys.”

Once we secure arrangements for our youngest intern, we plan on attending the event and providing live coverage below.

UPDATE (Friday, March 13): This is the ordinance the mayor will transmit to the city council next week regarding the seizure of some of the Sisleys’ properties to create a park. Click on any image to see the full size version.

Should the judgments, interest and penalties related to the violations remain unpaid, the city will seek to have the properties seized by the King County Sheriff and sold at auction. Murray intends to transmit an ordinance to the City Council next week that allows the city to purchase the two properties at 1322 and 1318 NE 65th St.

The city intends to bid on the properties at auction, using a credit bid based on the $3.3 million owed the city by the Sisleys, in order to build a new city park for the neighborhood.

If the supplemental proceedings that allows the city to collect more than $2 million in penalties have not concluded prior to the auction, the city will use a $1 King County Conservation Futures grant, in addition to credit based on the judgments and interest owed the city.

While those residents gathered at the press conference were pleased with the actions the city plans to take, many were dismayed that none of them (as of yet) involved tearing down any dilapidated buildings. The parcels the city is zeroing in on for this first seizure have both been vacant for years.

View from 14th Avenue NE/NE 66th Street south to NE 65th Street.

Once the date of the City Council meeting is known, we will post that information here.

The mayor, council members, and representatives from city departments will gather for a press conference update on $3 million+ legal judgement owed by the Sisleys. Meet at the northwest corner of NE 65th ST and 14th Ave NE. 10 AM.

Meet your District Candidates Event at Sand Point Community Church’s Perry Hall, 4710 NE 70th Street. Members of District 4 (included Ravenna and Bryant neighborhoods) will be registered to vote only for their preferred D4 candidate and the two at-large positions instead of voting for 9 Councilmembers as in the past. Incumbent Jean Godden has four official challengers. 7:30-8:30 PM.

Anything else to add? Garage sale? Fundraiser? Lemonade stand? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll add it to the post!